Turkey’s Erdoğan: Star of the Ballot and the Silver Screen

What a new biopic about President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan says about Turkey’s forthcoming election…and the future of the country

Daniel Round writes for EA:

On March 3, Turkey cinemas will premiere Reis (The Chief), an expensive film about the life and early political career of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The movie will come out just six weeks before Turkey heads to the polls to vote on a constitutional reform package that, if passed, would significantly extend Erdoğan’s powers and reduce those of the Grand National Assembly.

The Silver Screen

Reis also covers key periods and events in the history of the Turkish Republic, such as the ban on reciting the call to prayer in Arabic between 1932 and 1950 and the military junta of 1960-1961 — eras that had a profound impact on the religious conservatives who now support the President. The purpose of this is two-fold and transparent: one, to define the story of the Turkish Republic as that of the oppressed, pious masses versus an out-of-touch military and political elite, and two, to set up Erdoğan as the key agent in transforming the state and opening it up to the people.

The film charts the story of Erdoğan, from his childhood in the working-class Istanbul district of Kasımpaşa through his political rise as the Mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998. It will apparently end with his imprisonment in 1999, for “inciting hatred based on religious or racial differences” in a speech where he read a poem by the nationalist Ziya Gökalp, and his release from detention

Before filming began, producer Ali Avcı said, “We see characters like Spider-Man and Superman on the T-shirts of our children… But we have our own heroes. The process of this film began with the thought: how did they become heroes?” So Reis will lay out how Erdoğan became a hero to a large portion of Turkish society — and leave the door open for future Reis films to cover Erdoğan’s Premiership (2003-2014) and Presidency (2014-present)

Avcı and director Hüdaverdi Yavuz will be hoping that their movie gets a better response — critically and commercially —- than Kod Adı: K.O.Z, the last unashamedly pro-government propaganda film to hit Turkish cinemas. A 2015 flop, it presented the government’s version of the 2013 corruption scandal that led to the falling out between Erdoğan and the cleric Fethullah Gülen. Reis’ relatively large $8 million budget suggests that it will be a rather more substantial production.

The Ballot

Will the film have an impact on the referendum itself? On its own, probably not. But as part of a broader campaign of intense pro-Erdoğan propaganda and scaremongering in the media, Reis feeds into a hostile environment after the failed July 2016 coup, in which the electorate has been divided into patriots who back the “hero” President and traitors who are on the same side as Kurdish PKK terrorists and Gülenist coup-mongers.

Recent polling suggests that the referendum is likely to be a closer vote than perhaps initially expected. Although polling organisations are highly politicized in Turkey and therefore often unreliable, it is worth noting that of the 12 national polls taken since the constitutional proposals were agreed in December, hayır (“no”) has topped seven. Crucially, many supporters of the far-right MHP, whose leadership backs an evet (“yes”) vote, are sceptical about an executive Presidency. While the vast majority of that portion of the electorate rallied behind Erdoğan as the figurehead of hard-line national unity in the aftermath of the coup attempt, many are suspicious about handing him new powers and dismantling the traditional Parliamentary system.

There are also indications that some swing voters who tend to opt for Erdoğan’s AKP in general and local elections are against a powerful executive Presidency. This group includes the 9% of voters who swung back to AKP in the November 2015 general election, having deserted the party in the previous poll in June 2015. Erdoğan’s loyal supporters will be hoping that these voters go and see Reis in the cinemas, and that it reminds them of Erdoğan’s place in the struggle against the old, unpopular political establishment. Appeals to this end will be commonplace on the evet side between now and the day of the vote, as will a continuation of the belligerent rhetoric that Turkey has seen during the post-coup clampdown.

In his short essay “Photography and Electoral Appeal” (1957), the French semiologist Roland Barthes wrote that the photograph “establishes a personal link between [the candidate] and the voters… What is transmitted…are not his plans, but his deep motives.” The film Reis will do for populist Erdoğan what the photograph did for the populist Poujade in 1950s France. In presenting Erdoğan as the embodiment of legitimate resistance against the old elite, the evet campaign will hope that the film resonates beyond politics to convince the sympathetic but undecided that they share a deeper, cultural link with the President than the hodgepodge of disorderly opposition politicians on the hayır side. In Turkey, as in Brexit Britain and Trump’s Disunited States, identity is increasingly the name of the political game, and Reis looks set to tap into that.

Scott Lucas is Professor of International Politics at the University of Birmingham and editor-in-chief of EA WorldView. He is a specialist in US and British foreign policy and international relations, especially the Middle East and Iran. Formerly he worked as a journalist in the US, writing for newspapers including the Guardian and The Independent and was an essayist for The New Statesman before he founded EA WorldView in November 2008.

5 COMMENTS

Urgent Call for Xerabê Bava by Academics for Peace- Germany & Academics for Peace- UK
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As Turkey’s constitutional referendum is approaching, we are, once again, witnessing an intensification of state violence in the Kurdish provinces of Turkey. For more than a week, there has been no communication with the people of Xerabê Bava (Koruköy), a village in Mardin-Nusaybin. The village is under round-the-clock military curfew and there have been claims that villagers are being tortured and executed. Visitors, including journalists, MPs and human rights observers were denied entry to the village.
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We are concerned that what is going on in Xerabê Bava might be a harbinger of approaching larger scale state violence against the Kurdish population and other minority populations in Turkey. Since the violence exercised on Kurdish population has become a strategy for the government in order to consolidate a nationalistic support for the referendum, it is crucial to raise an urgent reaction to this violence at its very beginning.
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We, therefore, urge international human rights organizations, journalists, and peace coalitions to pay attention to Xerabê Bava and take the necessary steps to investigate the allegations of rights violations in the village.
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Academics for Peace- Germany
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Academics for Peace- UKhttp://spotturkey.co.uk/2017/02/21/urgent-call-for-xerabe-bava-by-academics-for-peace-germany-academics-for-peace-uk/ 2/21/2017

Kom Podcast – Topic of the Week: What is happening in Kurdish village under siege?
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Kom News editors Giran Ozcan, Josef Yusuf and Mehmet Aksoy discuss developments in Korukoy village in Southeastern Turkey.
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Korukoy (Xerabe Bava) village in Mardin’s Nusaybin district has been under siege since 11 February by Turkish security forces. Hundreds of soldiers are reportedly still in the village and reports say at least 39 people have been detained, three killed and two missing.
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Almost all contact with the area has been cut. People are unable to leave their homes, tend to their livestock or go about their daily business. Soldiers stationed on the outskirts of the village are also preventing a delegation from local political parties entering the area.
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This podcast was recorded on Wednesday 22 Februaryhttps://soundcloud.com/user-6244324/kom-podcast-topic-of-the-week-kurdish-village-under-siege 2/23/2017

Turkish state forces prepare to attack another village in Mardin
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Curfew has been declared in Yardere (Qurdiskê) village of Mardin’s central Artuklu district. According to the related statement by Mardin Governorate, Turkish military will launch an operation in the mentioned village.
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The siege and attacks of Turkish forces in Mardin’s Nusaybin district continue in Xerabê Bava village for 17 days, and in Talatê and Cibilgirav villages for 6 days.http://www.anfenglish.com/kurdistan/turkish-state-forces-prepare-to-attack-another-village-in-mardin 2/27/2017

Kobanî stands in solidarity with Nusaybin
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To decry the Justice and Development authorities’ attacks on the Kurdish people in Nusaybin district in Bakur Kurdistan, Kobanî residents took to streets in demonstrations to assure their support for Bakur Kurdistan people.
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Dozens of the Kobanî eastern villages have demonstrated to decry the acts and attacks of the AKP authorities launched against the Kurdish people in Bakur Kurdistan and the late offensives on Xerabê Bava village in Nusaybin district.
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People holding flags of TEV-DEM, YPG and YPJ have gathered in Xanek village 35 km east of the city of Kobanî, holding photos of the Xerabê Bava village people who were brutally tortured by the AKP authorities.http://en.hawarnews.com/kobani-stands-in-solidarity-with-nusaybin/ 2/26/2017

Turkish Deputy PM: No appeal from [KDP’s] Barzani for release of HDP officials
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Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said on Monday (February 27) that Masoud Barzani made no appeal to release Selahattin Demirtas and other lawmakers from the pro-Kurdish bloc, during a meeting with Ankara officials.
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“Barzani’s visit to Ankara was in an effort to revise cooperation between Turkey and the Kurdistan Region,” state run Anadolu Agency said quoting Kurtulmus during a press conference at Cankaya Palace.
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There was no call from Barzani to demand the release of Demirtas – the co-leader of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) – or other party officials, Kurtulmus said.http://www.nrttv.com/EN/Details.aspx?Jimare=12873 2/28/2017